Quote Originally Posted by Mikeg
You were discussing Detroit's over-dependence on auto manufacturing and it's a fact that multi-story automobile component and assembly plant designs were already obsolete prior to WWII. Vertical auto plants were much more expensive to operate compared to single-story plants.

Fair enough, but I was referring to the downfalls of building Detroit as a "urban suburb city" [[outside of the Midtown area) more than anything. When you quickly pack a large city full of single-family homes, it can become somewhat inflexible to future development. I believe there should have been a greater mixture of residential spaces. That said, I don't think the problem of space was insurmountable. Detroit was a humongous city.


And yes, as far as factories go, of course you must choose the most economically efficient design, even if it takes more space. But when I drive by Chrysler's Warren Stamping Plant - which I believe Hermod is referring to - I don't see how it couldn't have fit in Detroit. According to Chrysler, the Warren Stamping Plant only takes up 78 acres, which is 0.12 square miles [[if my math is correct). So, you're telling me there was no room within Detroit's 138 square miles of land for such a factory? Or is it that factory owners wanted to get out of Detroit for other reasons?

Quote Originally Posted by Hermod
2. When a company moved out of a factory, it did not create a space for a factory because the empty building was functionally obsolete. It was cheaper and easier to buy land past 8 Mile than it was to tear down the empty factory and rebuild.


Oh, poor auto companies. GM could afford to build a gigantic man-made lake and do all kinds of landscaping for its Tech Center in Warren, but tearing down a building or two now and then would've bankrupted the company. Please. And I'm sure Detroit would've been happy to tear down factories for GM if meant the city would get new factories.